THE POWER brokers of Hollywood never saw AMBRA BATTILANA GUTIERREZ coming.

THE RISE of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement has been pretty well documented, the spotlight mostly on A-list celebrities like Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, and Angelina Jolie. Their experiences of sexual abuse in the movie industry have filled headlines worldwide. So it’s easy to overlook how, at the root of it all, it was the 22-year old Filipina-Italian Gutierrez (born 15 May 1992), a Victoria’s Secret model and Italian beauty queen, who sat at the NYPD Special Victims desk way back in 2015 that eventually started the fall of Harvey Weinstein’s movie empire through her wire recordings.

IT'S LESS well-documented how, after signing Weinstein's NDA, Ambra and her brother went to the Philippines to escape her deep depression and trauma. Gutierrez' mother has roots in Calamba, Laguna, and Ambra stayed in the Philippines for more than two years to recuperate and try to start a new life. 

I CAUGHT up with Gutierrez in the Miami, where lockdown had found her. In this conversation, Gutierrez looks back her pivotal time in exile in the Philippines, how staying in Manila energized her for a return to New York, and on the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement that eventually helped sentence Weinstein to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault, in one of the most dramatic falls from grace for one of Hollywood's most powerful figures.

A MUST-LISTEN episode for all victims of sexual abuse and the friends and family who have suffered with them. 

CONTAINS SOUND samples from "Cottonmouth" by Surrogate Prey. Used with permission. Check out their music on Bandcamp. 

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